Heir Apparent
by Lord Nott
Summary: Who is he?’ they ask, ‘why was he invited to this ball, and why does he sit near the queen?’


DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books Inc., Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No infringement upon copyright or trademark is intended. This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by those stated in the above text. No money is being made, and nothing is being gained, except the joy and knowledge writing brings. All characters, plots, ideas or anything in this text that was not created by those listed above were created by this author, are property of this author and may not be reproduced at anytime without the sole permission and consent of this author. Any similarities to any other works except those of J.K. Rowling (which have already been addressed) are purely coincidental.

Heir Apparent

Chapter one

She gaped. This is where he lived? It was amazing. She tilted her head right to see her cameraman fooling with his digital recorder, getting pictures of the inside of one of the most majestic 'houses' in the world. It was fancier then Buckingham Palace! Blue marble covered the magnificent hall. Hand carved nine foot, wooden doors surrounded the room, and windows stretching the entire right side wall let in golden rays of English light.

"Miss. Andrea Penn and Mr. Jack Johnson?"

She inhaled, and whirled around to see a middle aged man in a black suit. "It is." She said, trying to get her breathing under control.

"My name is George Madison and if you two would come with me please? The young Lord is awaiting you in his study. You may leave your luggage here, it will be dealt with." He said, motioning to their black suit cases. He turned to his left and silently walked across the hall.

"Young?" Jack whispered disbelievingly to her. He was one of the few that still believed that a fifty two year old man was running things in the Potter estate.

She ignored him and soon followed Mr. Madison, jogging to catch up. They passed ancient furniture, medieval suits of armor, incalculable numbers of doors and many paintings. The small party then entered one of the many side hallways, eventually stopping at a pair of French doors, both easily three times as tall as her.

"The young Lords office." Mr. Madison said. "It will be just one moment." He then proceeded to take off his name badge and wave it in front of a camera above the doorway; there was a click and a red light on the security camera flashed. He then proceeded to put his hand upon one of the great, brass door knocker and knock three times.

"Yes?" a voice answered.

"The reporter, Miss. Penn and the cameraman, Mr. Johnson are here for the interview sir."

"Ugh! Tell them that I'm sick and not feeling well." There was a pause. "Better yet, tell them I died and that I wished was for you to apologize on my behalf for not doing the interview. For God's sake man, I am not doing the stupid interview!" The last word was twisted into a snarl.

"I didn't mean that they were waiting for you in the entrance hall sir, I meant that they were standing outside your door, next to me, sir." Mr. Madison growled, and then turned to the reporter.

"He should be awaiting you and your companion, Miss. Penn. I wish you the best of luck. You'll need it if you're dealing with him." He then turned and left the way they had come.

Jack lifted the camera onto his shoulders and then toggled the black switch with his right hand, turning it on. He then motioned for her to continue and open the door. She took a few calming breaths and told herself, "Okay. This is it girl, the shining part of your carrier. Don't screw it up. Be polite and, most importantly, get a story!"

She grasped the ancient brass handle and turned, revealing another enormous room, decorated in a modern and technological fashion, nothing like the rest of the 'palace'. Light drifted in through two gigantic windows, overlooking the magnificent and breathtaking ground of the estate. Golden rays of sunlight landed on a recently polished, hand carved, ancient oak desk. To the right of the desk sat an empty stone fire place, no doubt having been extinguished for the summer months. And to the left of the desk was a wall filled with a dozen plasma screen television monitors showing the live feed of stalk markets from around the globe. All the television monitors all centered around yet another painting, this one more magnificent than those in the hallways. It was of a young man, no older than twenty five, sitting in a throne like chair, wearing magnificent red and gold ceremonial robes. He wore a pair of rectangular, golden spectacles, bringing out his aristocratic jaw and brown, messy hair.

"My grandfather, Lord-Duke William Thomason Potter III of England. The painting is one of my most prized possessions." Andrea turned her head to the center of the room; there stood a boy, no older than twelve gazing up at the portrait longingly. He gestured around and said, "It was actually painted in this very room, though you can't tell from its extensive renovations."

"Have a seat." He gestured to the red sofas in front of his desk and walked around to have a seat in one himself. "Can I get you anything? Water, Juice or perhaps a coffee?"

"No, no. We're fine." Andrea answered, a fake smile plastered to her face, after all it would not do good to insult potentially one of the most important people in the country.

"Very well let's get started. With the recent scandal in the Royal Family the population of abolitionists has grown substantially in the past month. Therefore, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II has ordered me to give you an interview, to take the light off her precious grandson and heir to the throne." The boy's eyes practically glowed in anger. "I have fought her majesty to the best of my ability for weeks, but to no avail. She knows that the entire kingdom is far too curious on who holds the lordship of my family. Indeed, many still believe my grandfather to be alive." Here he snorted. "And there are also, in few times the curious gazes of the public have seen me at royal functions, questions that have been asked and continually growing louder and louder. 'Who is he?' they ask, 'why was he invited to this ball, and why does he sit near the queen?'. 'Who is he?', they even began to demand to the palace. Well now their all about to find out because some snot-nosed prince decided it would be fun to have an affair with a girl in a room with a security camera!" Andrea glanced at jack's stunned face and tilted her head to make sure the camera was on and was recording this. It was.

"But enough of that. You no doubt already know of all this, indeed, so does every one in the western hemisphere. So here is what is going to go on in your weeks stay." He paused, "You are going to be staying here a week, aren't you?"

"That is what was agreed upon when we were asked to come here."

"Good. Well today I will be going through my daily routine, signing a few papers and relaxing, it is the weekend after all."

§Heir Apparent§

This won't be continued.

Lord Nott


End file.
